by USA TODAY Sports Network , USA TODAY

by USA TODAY Sports Network , USA TODAY

Once a week, USA TODAY Sports asks its network of college basketball experts to analyze the biggest topics around the country.

This week, the panel takes a look at the Player of the Year race. With Creighton senior forward Doug McDermott the clear-cut favorite at this point in the season, our writers debate who could pass the two-time All-American for POY supremacy.

Nicole Auerbach, USA TODAY Sports: It's going to depend on how the next month plays out. Voters all have different sets of criteria for determining Player of the Year (should it be the best player on the best team? the most valuable player on the best team? the nation's best offensive player? etc.) That's what makes it tricky to predict. However, even if Creighton continues to play well, McDermott will face challengers from the best of the best teams, like the ones that will be in the running for No. 1 seeds. If Syracuse remains a top-five team with few losses and C.J. Fair is still shouldering the scoring load, Fair will be in that conversation. For Arizona, you could make the case for Nick Johnson or T.J. McConnell. And there are lots of other big names doing a lot of heavy lifting. Think about Duke's Jabari Parker, Kentucky's Julius Randle, Pitt's Lamar Patterson, Cincinnati's Sean Kilpatrick. Any of those guys could emerge if his team gets hot. ... OK, so I've been rambling a bit. But I do think there's a significant subset of voters who want to vote for a player on what they believe is the nation's best team. So, assuming that's not Creighton, there will be at least one challenger to McDermott. Who that is remains to be seen - but if I had to bet, I'd say it'll end up Fair or Johnson.

Scott Gleeson, USA TODAY Sports: I've been on the Dougie Fresh bandwagon for years and I really don't see him fading enough to lose the award given that he's a senior and Creighton's system caters to him scoring 20+ points virtually every night. But for argument's sake, I'll take Duke's Jabari Parker. I know someone from Arizona (Nick Johnson) or Syracuse (C.J. Fair) are worthy but I feel like both those teams have a supporting player (McConnell and Aaron Gordon on for the Wildcats and Tyler Ennis for the Orange) who has POY credentials as well. While Duke has a wide array of talent, I think the Blue Devils would be lost without Parker, who's averaging 18.7 points and 8.2 rebounds a game. Parker had a slump, as most star freshman do, but he's rekindled his swag and remains a key cog in the Blue Devils' offensive and defensive schemes based on his versatility. Hypothetically, if McDermott gets injured or completed buckles down the stretch of the season and Parker somehow leads Duke to ACC supremacy, then all of the sudden Parker's numbers and team success give him a pretty solid POY formula. That and while some of the previous freshman player of the years such as Kevin Durant or Carmelo Anthony were essentially no-brainers for the award, looking at a player like Derrick Rose at Memphis is a decent comparison in terms of end-of-season impact goes. Rose used his late-season surge to become the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft. Parker has a chance to do something similar with a strong finish in February heading into March and the NCAAs.

Jason McIntyre, The Big Lead: Doug McDermott likely has a stranglehold on the award, and it might take an injury or major slump to open the door. If one player has a chance to make a late surge and receive the national attention they deserve, it is Nick Johnson of Arizona. I know Arizona just lost their first game, but I suspect that this team will be the No. 1 overall seed when the NCAA Tournament. The casual fan and media will start paying more attention to Arizona, and they will see just how valuable Johnson is. He does everything well, from scoring while shooting a very good percentage, to rebounding from the guard position, to playing excellent defense. Johnson is coming off his worst performance (4 points) - he was averaging almost 18 points a game in Pac-12 play before the Cal loss. That was one blip in an otherwise stellar year, showing how important his play is, and he should rebound and be the first team All-American candidate from the nation's best team, and a dark horse for Player of the Year.

Randy McClure, rushthecourt.net: The short and easy answer to this question is, of course, nobody. With the absurdly good numbers that McDermott has produced this season - 25.0 ppg and 7.1 rpg on superb shooting splits of 50 percent from the field, 43 percent from long range, and 89 percent from the line - along with Creighton's season-long success (No. 12 in the latest national polls and currently leading the Big East with an 8-1 record), it would take some kind of epic meltdown for the Bluejays' superstar to fail to win the NPOY award this year. Still, there are six weeks left in the regular season and stranger things have happened than a star player or team faltering in the month of February. Should the unlikely occur, the player best positioned to overtake Dougie McBuckets was the star of the game on a national stage over the weekend: Syracuse forward CJ Fair. The ironman senior who has logged all but 10 minutes of action in nine ACC games followed up his superb 28-point, you-can't-stop-me performance against Duke with a somewhat pedestrian effort last night versus Notre Dame (a season-low six points), but that won't matter in the NPOY race if Syracuse keeps winning. There's something to be said for the notion of "best player on the best team," and that's especially true if the squad hasn't lost a game all season. As of today, the Orange sit at 22-0 and, with only a few tough road trips remaining, have designs on a flawless record and a No. 1 seed heading into March. The further Syracuse gets into February with that zero on the right side of the ledger, the more media attention that Fair as the team's best player will get. And the more opportunities he has to shine in marquee games with everyone watching, the greater chance that McDermott, as brilliant as he has been, will get crowded out by the headband-wearing, buttery-smooth forward from Baltimore. It's not going to happen, mind you; but if it does, that's how it will go.

David Aldridge, DukeReport: It's tough to see anyone overtaking McDermott, but I'll go with the hot hand of C.J. Fair from Syracuse. He stepped up on a huge stage this past Saturday night against Duke and was the best player on the floor, leading the Orange with 28 points in the 91-89 overtime win. He's a workhorse who is averaging 37.2 minutes per game and Jim Boeheim relies on him heavily along with point guard Tyler Ennis. His stats don't necessarily jump off the page, with 16.7 points and 5.9 rebounds on 42-percent shooting, but his play in close games is one of the biggest reasons his team is 22-0 and ranked No. 1 in the country. If Fair can continue to play well and Syracuse remains undefeated atop the polls, he'll have a chance to track down Doug McDermott in the National Player of the Year race.

Paul Gotham, Pickin' Splinters: Cincinnati's Sean Kilpatrick could pass Doug McDermott for player of the year. Winners of 14 straight, the Bearcats are one of the hottest teams in the country, and Kilpatrick is far and away their leader. The senior guard averages 19.4 a game (next closest is Justin Jackson at 11.3). He has scored double figures in all but one game this season including 11 contests at 20 or above. And he is doing it when it matters most ‚?? 28 at Louisville and 18 at Memphis. Kilpatrick leads UC with 1.16 points per shot, a true shooting percentage (takes into consideration 2-pt and 3-pt FGS along with FTS) of 58.5, and he averages 24 per 40 minutes. With two games left against UConn along with rematches versus Louisville and Memphis, Kilpatrick will have his chance to prove he is player of the year.